


Gone

by attack_on_toast



Series: Reigisa Week 2015 [3]
Category: Free!
Genre: Day three: Angst, M/M, Reigisa Week, Woooowwwwww okay this was, erm
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-01-21
Updated: 2015-01-21
Packaged: 2018-03-08 11:12:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,218
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3207071
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/attack_on_toast/pseuds/attack_on_toast
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Nagisa holds the phone precariously between his shoulder and ear, both hands occupied with a piece of string ripped from his shirt that he is nervously winding around his fingers. He doesn’t know where he is or how he got there. He remembers agreeing to go out to a movie with a friend, and he remembers them going out for drinks afterward. He remembers being woken up by a very angry janitor in the bathroom, and he remembers being really hungover, but that's about all he remembers, and now he’s beyond scared. He had called Rei in a panic at four in the morning, and now Rei was going to come and pick him up.<br/>It was going to be okay.<br/>Right?</p>
            </blockquote>





	Gone

**Author's Note:**

> I PULLED THROUGH AND MADE IT TO THE THIRD DAY OF REIGISA WEEK YESSSSS
> 
> But tomorrows gonna be great since i have absolutely no idea what im gonna write
> 
> Bajillions of thanks to my amazetacular beta Gabe (IM SO SORRY I APOLOGIZE FOR KILLING YOU WITH ALL OF THIS BETA WORK FEEL FREE TO RETURN THE FAVOR ANY TIME)
> 
> My heart says no but my mind says with a prompt like angst what were they expecting

“I’ll be there in ten minutes. Please, just stay put!” Rei’s voice is tense.

Nagisa holds the phone precariously between his shoulder and ear, both hands occupied with a piece of string ripped from his shirt that he is nervously winding around his fingers. He doesn’t know where he is or how he got there. He remembers agreeing to go out to a movie with a friend, and he remembers them going out for drinks afterward. He remembers being woken up by a very angry janitor in the bathroom, and he remembers being really hungover, but that's about all he remembers, and now he’s beyond scared. He had called Rei in a panic at four in the morning, and now Rei was going to come and pick him up.

It was going to be okay.

Right?

“Could you stay on the phone with me?” Nagisa can barely recognize his own voice. The sound that comes from his lips is thin and shaky and not very Nagisa-like at all.

“Nagisa, I’m in the car, I can’t - !” Rei begins, but can’t keep his resolve steady for long. He sighs, but gives in. “Very well.”

“Thank you Rei chan!” Nagisa’s voice regains some of its color.

Everything was going to be okay.

***

“Nagisa kun, describe to me again, where exactly are you?”

Nagisa wanders over to a local restaurant which has the address written on the door.

 

“Uh, block seventeen. I’m next to the Okonomiyaki restaurant and the men’s clothing store.” Nagisa’s stomach grumbles at the smell of the aforementioned okonomiyaki and he idly wonders if he would be able to convince Rei to buy him some food. Knowing Rei, he had probably gotten some food for him on his way out of the door.

“Okay, I can see a clothing store, but I can’t find the restaurant. Are you absolutely sure you’re in block seventeen?” Rei’s voice is still tense, and Nagisa can nearly picture him squinting through the windshield at the stores lining the streets. The thought makes him giggle.

Nagisa nods emphatically in response to Rei’s question, then remembers that Rei can’t see him. “Yep, I’m sure.” He checks the address again. “Wait! No, I was wrong! I’m on block eighteen. Sorry Rei chan, I was so freaked I couldn’t read the numbers right.”

“Nagisa kun,” Rei begins, sighing exasperatedly. “Okay, I think I see yo-” The line cuts off abruptly.

Nagisa glances at his phone in annoyance, then shrugs and slides it into his pocket. Rei probably just hit the ‘end call’ button with his cheek on accident, but he’d call Nagisa back soon anyway. Plus, it sounded like Rei’s really close.

A few more minutes tick by, and Nagisa still hasn’t received a call from Rei, nor has he seen his car pass by.

A few minutes after that and Nagisa begins to hear sirens blaring from the next street. Rei still isn’t here, and Nagsia is bored so he decides to go investigate. As he rounds the corner, he notices a familiar redhead.

“Rin chan!” he shouts, running up to the hunched figure. Nagisa wonders why Rin stopped here while he was (judging by his clothes) jogging. “Rin chan, its me!”

Rin doesn’t turn around immediately, and his figure is bathed in the red and white glow of the ambulance. The lights are bright and hurt Nagisa’s eyes as they pierce through the early morning dimness.

Nasty feelings bubble up in the pit of Nagsia’s stomach, but he pushes them down and continues forward.

Rin turns around, and now Nagisa knows that something is wrong.

 

Instead of annoyance or frustration, his face holds devastation.

“Nagisa…” he starts, but trails off as his voice breaks.

Nagisa’s mind starts racing at a million miles an hour.

“What happened?” He questions. “Did Ai chan get hurt?”

Rin shakes his head slowly, refusing to meet Nagisa’s desperate magenta eyes.

“Then did something happen to Sou chan?” he asks, desperately trying to get an answer out of Rin. “Or - ” He starts again, but is cut off.

“Rei… Nagisa, I’m so sorry but Rei…” he trails off, biting his lip. Tears well in the corners of his eyes.

“Did something happen to Rei chan?” Nagisa says slowly. His mind screams for him to stop, turn around, go back, because surely Rei is only one block away and in a moment he would come driving around the corner.

He would be angry at Nagisa for getting himself lost, but only for a minute or two. Then he would hug Nagsia and tell him how worried he was and Nagisa would hug him back and tell him sorry and that he would never do it again and please stop crying Rei chan, and Rei would say something about how he wasn’t crying, he just had allergies, and how Nagisa better not get himself into a situation like this again because Rei would not jump into his car at four in the morning ever again since his bedhead wasn’t beautiful and he needed to sleep and Nagisa would know that he was lying and they would drive home together and everything would be okay.

But everything isn’t okay, since Rin is hugging him and hugging isn’t a thing Rin does unless something bad happens.

“What happened to him? What happened to him?” Nagisa hears a voice yelling, belatedly realizing its his own. He stops to take a breath and hears Rin’s whispered response.

“Some, some _idiot_ driving a truck ran into him.”

“But he’s going to be okay, right? I need to see him, I need to make sure he’s okay!” Nagisa’s voice has gone up a pitch and his words are shaky as he continues speaking.

“Nagisa,” he hears Rin’s words as if they’re bleeding through a styrofoam wall., “It… it was quick.” Rin pauses, then continues. “He died on impact.”

“No!” His voice is no longer shaky, it is strong. Rin _must_ be wrong, Rin is _definitely_ wrong. “Let me see him, I need to see him!” He tries to break free of Rin’s embrace, but he feels like he’s trapped in a cage and his feet won’t move.

***

The person that Nagisa sees being carted to the ambulance is not Rei. This person has black hair, brown eyes, and is very much alive. They take one more person into the ambulance, someone tall and covered in plain white blanket. The only thing Nagisa can see is a few strands of dark blue hair peeking out from under the sheet.

There are no more doubts in Nagisa’s mind.

***

A man and a woman in uniform ask them to move, and Nagisa shuffles quietly and obediently to the sidewalk. Everything is numb. He is detachedly aware of the wetness on his cheeks, of the stifled sobs he lets out every few seconds.

The only thought that registers in his mind is of Rei.

Rei, who had been the single most stubborn person he had ever met.

Rei, who was was in love with all things beautiful.

Rei, who had tried and tried and tried to swim with perfect form before realizing he didn’t have to be perfect all the time.

Rei, who would do anything for Nagisa.

Rei, who had done everything for Nagisa.

Rei, who died saving Nagisa.

Rei, who is gone.

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> Angst more like who am I gonna kill off this time amiright
> 
> also remember kids don't text/call and drive you could end up as a pancake and while pancakes are delicious you don't want to be one
> 
> (Can you tell that I only got three hours of sleep last night and had an allergy attack at school today i thought not)


End file.
